Alastair Cook must prove he has the X-factor to pass his audition

Wednesday 22 June 2011 11:26 BST

England's limited-overs matches in this country are rarely given as high a profile as their Test series, yet the forthcoming five 50-over games against Sri Lanka have the potential to shape the team's most important narrative - the captaincy.

June 28, 2011 marks the beginning of Alastair Cook's stint as the permanent skipper of a senior England team.

Yes, Cook led the tour of Bangladesh early in 2010 but this is very different. Then, Cook was in charge because Andrew Strauss had taken a breather. Now, Strauss has decided no longer to play one-day internationals and Cook has the chance to define the leadership as he wishes.

When England's new three-way captaincy arrangement - Stuart Broad will head the Twenty20 side - was announced at Lord's last month, the England and Wales Cricket Board's spin machine was moving the story one way. The new structure would, we were told, actually increase the harmony and unity within the squad as each captain assisted the others and allowed England to become even stronger as a result.

Too good to be true? Probably. Because no matter how strong the England team are at the moment, you can bet your life that the players who are in both the one-day and Test teams will begin to measure Cook's captaincy against Strauss's. It is human nature: when a new boss takes over your department at work, you compare them with their predecessor.

Why should sportsmen be any different? In Bangladesh, Cook was guided carefully by coach Andy Flower but as he grows into the role, so his confidence will increase.

One-day cricket is very different from the Test game but there are certain common principles. Would Cook start to question Strauss's methods during the five-day game? That is not to say the original idea was bad. With so much cricket on the calendar, it made sense to divide the load. Yet every brave plan carries a degree of risk and it is possible that some players might prefer Cook's style of leadership to Strauss's.

There is a recent precedent for this. In 2003, Nasser Hussain realised the players were responding more to one-day captain Michael Vaughan and stepped down as Test skipper.

As well as leadership qualities, form is crucial for any captain. At present, Strauss has none, with only 27 runs in his first four innings in the Test series against Sri Lanka. Cook has maintained his prolific Ashes form this summer, scoring a century and three fifties against Sri Lanka.

If he can keep scoring heavily in the five matches against Sri Lanka, and Strauss continues to struggle in the early part of the India Test series, suddenly the England Test captain's position will not be quite so strong.

It is not only Strauss, though, whose standing might be weakened by Cook's promotion, because Cook himself has much to prove, both as a captain and as a one-day opener. Cook has an even temperament and, despite his reticent public demeanour, he is clearly a respected and influential figure within the squad.

As a tactician, though, we still know very little of his ability and it will be fascinating to gauge his intentions over the next few weeks.

How he performs with the bat is as important. Cook has played only three one-day internationals since November 2008 and his overall record is unspectacular: an average of 33 from 26 innings, including one century and five fifties. He has also hit only one six in those matches.

When Strauss returned to one-day cricket after taking over as captain in 2009, he adapted his game superbly, transforming himself into an attacking opener and Cook has to demonstrate quickly that he can do the same.

The Essex player is a remorseless accumulator of runs but more enterprise is required in the shorter forms, especially if England plan to keep Jonathan Trott at No3.

A poor run of scores and a sluggish strike rate would make it difficult for Cook to justify his place in the team. And where would that leave the project to make him Test captain when Strauss steps down? As vice-captain, Cook is the clear favourite but he must pass his one-day audition.

Who knows, in the next two years, England might reach utopia: Strauss rediscovers his best form and takes England to the No1 Test ranking, Cook improves the one-day side, develops into a serious leader and inherits the Test job from Strauss after back-to-back Ashes wins in 2013 and 2014.

Yet sports teams rarely experience unblemished progress over a long period. And the hunch is that Sri Lanka - World Cup finalists, don't forget - will be far more switched-on and dangerous in one-day cricket than they ever were in the Test series. Cook's first major challenge awaits, then, and few will be more interested in how he tackles it than Andrew Strauss.

'One' show is right for Taylor

James Taylor is one of the brightest batting prospects in the country but some England players offered the view last winter that he needed to be playing Division One cricket to enhance his international claims.

Those players will, therefore, be interested to learn of Warwickshire's approach to take Taylor from Leicestershire.

The standard in Division One is higher than in Division Two and England cricketers of the future should wish to test themselves against better players.

Taylor was considered good enough by the England selectors to be in the Lions squad for the match against Sri Lanka earlier this summer, and the 22-year-old was in strong contention for a place in the one-day squad against the tourists.

It is difficult for Leicestershire but Taylor's ambition should be applauded. Who knows whether he will mature into an England Test regular but he seems determined to give himself the best possible chance to do so.

Dash for cash so costly

Qualification for the Twenty20 Champions League is likely to prove a double-edged sword for the English teams involved.

The tournament lasts from September 23 until October 9 but is preceded by a six-team qualifying competition, which will involve the English sides and which takes place between September 19 and 21.

That means teams from this country will have hardly any preparation time for the Champions League, especially if either of them manage to qualify for the CB40 Final, due to take place at Lord's on September 17.

Even if the best Twenty teams in England are not as successful in 50-over cricket, they will still have very little room for manoeuvre, as the final round of County Championship matches begins on September 12.

Yet with the Champions League one of the most lucrative competitions in world cricket, it is not hard to imagine counties doing their sums and choosing their priorities accordingly.